New Ordinance Allows Wildwood To Fine ‘Animal House’ Properties

WILDWOOD, N.J. (CBS) — Beach week in Wildwood brings in a crowd of high school students each year celebrating graduation.

But now the city says the parties have become too loud and gone too late.

“These drunk kids are out of control,” says Mayor Ernie Troiano.

Troiano says the city has about forty of these, so called, animal houses that have become a nuisance, and the city is going after the property owners. The mayor says they will face fines and could lose their license to rent.

Eyewitness News went to a row of these properties a block away from the beach, and the tenants, who admitted they were not 21, invited our crew upstairs. Inside, the table was littered with open beer cans. Outside, trash covered the ground and someone threw a beer bong into the bushes.

The city says most of the “animal houses” have absentee landlords that don’t check in. Now they’ll be responsible for the problems on their properties.

Mayor Troiano says he would like to work out the fines and penalties soon, so the city can have prosecute the animal house properties before the end of summer.